[prodry]

Hi
I have a Dansk three piece leather sofa in baby-poo brown. I have attached a couple of pictures. It is old but was a lot of money new and quite like it. Re-decorating so was going to buy a new DFS one but have a DFS one in TV room that is falling apart after a year and the leather doesn't feel the same.

Asked a leather cleaner the other who was working down the road and he quoted £900. It has got White piping around the edges so he said would take longer.

Anyone interested is £900 what I am going to have to pay for a decent job? is it worth doing Or should I go and get one from DFS on 'Buy now See you later'

Thanks Michael

[Paul Moss]

Its pigmented and needs some colour and finishing. I would charge around £450 for a job like this, but advise the customer that the 450 may be better going towards a new suite as you will only get 2 -3 years from restoration work.

[LTT Leathercare]

If the leather is still in good condition (which it looks to be) and the suite was a good price when new then it is worth the restoration process especially if it suits your needs and you like it and find it comfortable.
If the restoration process is done correctly with professional products rather than DIY ones then it should last a good length of time after restoration if properly looked after.

If the piping needs to be masked off then this is reflected in the price as it takes a good deal of time to do before the rest can be recoloured.

The leather requires pigment coating and refinishing (dyes are not suitable for this type of leather).

Hope this helps
Cheers
Judyb

[Jim_77]

[edited]

[Paul Moss]

Yep Jim your right. Removed it.

[kevin brown]

I do agree with you LTT Leather care as leather is looking in good condition to me also and if proper pigmentation coating techniques are applied then it can have a longer life time after restoration. you can check the quotes from other cleaners also.   

[Jim_77]

Paul

[wynne jones]

Leather was all the rage on here a few years ago, now it seems their is less enthusiasm for it.

[LTT Leathercare]

Still filling the training courses and the interest is still very much there.  Some very good companies now around offering cleaning and restoration services for furniture, cars, aircraft, handbags, garments etc.
Leather cleaning and repair still big business judging by the amount we sell to the trade.
Most of the individual companies that are doing well set up a seperate business rather than offering leather cleaning as an add on to their cleaning business and these are the ones that seem to be most successful - consumers still do not seem to equate leather cleaning with upholstery cleaning so needs good marketing to ge the work. 
We are finding that there is an increasing interest in Aniline Restoration which is one of the easiest forms and can be the most lucrative of all the restoration processes.
During the current economic climate we have seen a huge increase in trade due to people wanting to make their furniture last longer rather than buying a new one so cleaning and repair services are at an all time high - you must have seen this in the fabric side too.

Hope this helps
Judyb

[Mark Lawrence]

Asked a leather cleaner the other who was working down the road and he quoted £900. It has got White piping around the edges so he said would take longer.

Anyone interested is £900 what I am going to have to pay for a decent job? is it worth doing Or should I go and get one from DFS on 'Buy now See you later'

If I was the restorer I would have offered to recolour as above, but hey if your doing the exact same colour, you probably wont need to right up to the piping - just close. So it would have been cheaper tbh (quicker). Also I would have at least offered to pigment the piping the same colour as the suite - with a  price drop too...much easier.

Win win for everyone.

Mark